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Chapter 8 - Weight Control ___________________________________________

The Right Way to Control Your Body Weight The Little Man in Your Head _______________________________________________________________________________

In order to understand why you eat you must first understand the biological mechanisms involved in hunger.

Let’s do it this way. You go over to McDonald’s restaurant and order one of those ninety nine cent Big Macs that sells for five dollars nowadays. You know the kind…two all beef patties, special sauce, cheese, pickles, lettuce and onions on a sesame seed bun. You take a big bite and chew it up into this icky substance called bolus. This process is called mastication, not masturbation, as many of my students seem to think. Of course, many of them are working on the wrong end most of the time.

Anyhow, after you chew your food up, you swallow it and it goes down into your stomach where it is churned up into this gummy substance called chime. Your pancreas then squirts out hydrochloric acid that breaks the chime down to a complex sugar called glycogen. The glycogen is then converted to a simple sugar called glucose and the glucose is circulated through the body by way of your blood stream. The pancreas then secretes insulin, which gives the cells of the body the ability to absorb the glucose. Now, here is something you may not know. Every cell in the body has a manufacturing company called mitochondria. Once the cell absorbs the glucose, it is taken to this manufacturing company and converted into an energy rich compound: Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). It is ATP that actually serves as the fuel for the cell’s energy requirements. ATP molecules represent stored chemical energy.

When the bonds of the ATP molecules are broken, energy is released. The breakdown of ATP serves to power all biological work. Isn’t that neat?

In brief, nutrients in consumed food supply the energy that powers all biological functions.

However, in order for the cells (which are like chemical factories) to use these ∞ WELLNESS FOR LIFE ∞ nutrients, the nutrients must first be __________________________________________________________________ converted to ATP and then oxidized.

If you understand all of that raise your Loosing Weight is Easy if You Really Want it, Right? hand. To bad, we are going ahead away.

Okay! Okay! I will wait…go back and A person who really wants to lose weight should be able to do so read it again you big dummy. fairly easily, right? Not necessarily so. Achieving, and then maintaining a desired weight loss over several years has been proven to be very difficult. In Once the food is converted to fact, according to Dr. Alvin Feinstein of the Yale Medical School, the success glucose, the glucose is dumped into the rate for curing cancer is much higher than the long term success rate for most blood stream. The blood in turn carries medical weight-reducing programs. the glucose throughout the body and Although there are thousands of weight control practices, there is passes it on to the cells so that it can be really only one way to control body weight, namely, the regulation of caloric used for energy. You should remember intake and caloric expenditure. If your caloric intake exceeds your caloric that too. We just talked about it…the expenditure, you are in a positive caloric balance and you will gain weight. pancreas secretes insulin, cells absorb Conversely, if your caloric intake is lower than your caloric output, you are in a the glucose, mitochondria converts it to negative caloric balance and you will lose weight. Maintaining a proper balance between your caloric intake and caloric expenditure will cause your body ATP, ATP molecules are broken down weight to remain relatively constant. and energy is released. I know… go back and read it again. It is important, so make sure you understand it. Go ahead, I will wait here for you.

Here is the point I am trying to make. It is the glucose or sugar concentration level of the blood that offers the first clue as to why we experience the sensation of hunger. Research has revealed that when

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an individual’s blood sugar level drops, his appetite will increase significantly. When his blood sugar level is increased, his appetite will decrease significantly. Apparently, there are sugar detectors in the body that let your brain know how much sugar is in your blood. Where do you think those receptors are located?

Well, recent studies have revealed that the liver and the hypothalamus contain such sugar detectors. It seems, however, that the sugar detectors in the hypothalamus have the greatest impact on hunger.

Perhaps the best way to understand how the hypothalamus affects appetite is to use the little man, or homunculus analogy. The Egyptians really believed that there was a “little man” or a homunculus as they called him, living inside each person’s skull. They thought that he peered out through your eyes and listened through your ears.

Once the “little man” figured out how to process or react to the incoming information, he would pull the strings that operated your muscles much the way puppeteer pulls the strings that make marionettes behave.

The reason they believed this was because when they looked directly into someone’s eyes they would see a little man or woman looking back out at them. It’s true! If you don’t believe us go ahead and look into someone’s eyes.

You’ll see a little man in there. Try it…it works.

Interestingly, the Egyptians also noticed that when they looked into an animal’s eyes there was a little man in there too looking out at them. Naturally, they thought that a “little man” pulled the strings for animals as well as humans. Apparently, they never considered asking the question what the animal saw when he looked into a human’s eyes. Actually all of this shouldn’t be too hard to comprehend. After all, just about every time you turn the television on there is a commercial in which some “little man” is running around a human body causing constipation, heartburn, or headaches.

We hope you realize that there really is not a little man in your head…you have snakes in there, but no little man. We are just kidding, you don’t have snakes in there either…at least we don’t think you do.

Anyhow, using the homunculus analogy, try to envision a little man sitting on the top of your hypothalamus operating a panel with two switches. The switch on his right (actually the lateral portion of the hypothalamus) activates the satiation center. When he hits that switch, your hunger is satiated. The switch on his left (the ventral medial portion of hypothalamus) activates the feeding center. As you might expect, if the feeding center is switched on, your hunger will increase. What determines which switch is turned on is the glucose concentration level of the blood. As the blood passes by the hypothalamus, our “little man” sticks his finger in the blood and tastes it. If the blood has a lot of sugar and/or glucose in it, the “little man” will turn off the switch controlling the feeding center and flip on the satiation switch, thereby decreasing biological hunger. On the other hand, if there is very little sugar in the blood, the “little man” will do the opposite. He will switch on the feeding center and flip off the satiation center and bring about the sensation of hunger. In brief, to a large degree, appetite is contingent upon the glucose concentration level of the blood.

Interestingly, there is considerable research to substantiate the hypothalamic theory of eating. For instance, numerous studies have shown that when the lateral hypothalamus (feeding center) of a rat is destroyed, the animal will refuse to eat and will actually starve to death unless it is force fed. On the other hand, if a rat’s ventral medial area of

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the hypothalamus (satiation center) is destroyed, the animal will develop a voracious appetite. He will eat excessively and can end up almost tripling his body weight in a very short period of time.

Along these same lines, research concerned with electrical stimulation of the brain revealed that stimulation of the feeding center will cause hyperphagia (abnormal hunger) while stimulation of the satiation center will cause anorexia (loss of appetite). Early studies have also shown that when the blood from a satiated dog was transfused into a starving dog, the starving dog would not eat food that was placed in front of him. Conversely, when the blood from a starved dog was transfused into a dog that had just finished eating all it wanted, the dog would start to eat again. All in all, these studies certainly seem to indicate that the glucose concentration in the blood plays an important role in satiation and hunger.

We know that a low glucose concentration blood level can turn on the feeding center and turn off the satiation center, thereby causing you to become hungry. We also know that the reverse will occur if we elevate the glucose concentration level of the blood. It would seem then, that the only thing you would have to do to decrease hunger is to monitor the glucose concentration level of the blood. Sounds easy, right?

Wrong!

First of all, when ∞ WELLNESS FOR LIFE ∞ you start eating, the glucose __________________________________________________________________ concentration level of the blood is not immediately or Can Wearing a Rubber Suit Help Lose Weight? dramatically affected. For instance, if you ate a steak, Yes and no. By wearing a rubberized suit, you can lose weight, but it would take anywhere the loss is the result of dehydration, not the loss of fat. When you drink liquids from one hour to four hours to quench your thirst, you will quickly replace the water (weight) loss. Many for the steak to be digested athletes such as boxers, wrestlers, and weightlifters use rubberized suits when exercising in order to lose weight quickly so that they can make a certain and assimilated into your weight classification. After they weigh in for competition, they immediately bloodstream. Obviously, we drink fluids to replace the water they lost through dehydration. Although this stop eating long before the practice is widely used, it is extremely dangerous in that it can lead to heat food we eat affects the cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and possibly death. The reason for this is glucose concentration level that when you become overheated, your body attempts to give off excess heat of the blood. If we didn’t, by radiation, convection, conduction, and evaporation. If you are wearing we would find that every clothing (like a rubberized suit) that inhibits the body's ability to eliminate time we sat down for a excess heat, your temperature will rise even higher. When the generation of meal, we would eat for a body heat exceeds the capacity of the temperature regulating mechanisms, internal body temperature increases and heat related disorders could occur. For couple of hours before we this reason, any time you anticipate excessive body heat, you should wear were satiated. In a few clothing that will expose as much of your skin as is possible without getting words, a low glucose arrested. concentration level in the blood is quick to turn your hunger on, but there are other physiological mechanisms besides the high glucose concentration level of the blood that turns your hunger off.

One of those physiological mechanisms is a “swallow counter”. Research indicates that there is some part of the hypothalamus that actually counts how many times an individual chews and swallows.

Interestingly, after a certain number of chews and/or swallows, the satiation center is activated and the feeding center is shut off. Obviously, this occurs long before the glucose concentration level of the blood is elevated. Consequently, it seems that hunger can be satisfied to some extent by chewing and swallowing.

It is believed that the trigeminal nerve that runs from the lips and cheek to the satiation center in the hypothalamus is the body’s “swallow and chewing counter.”

Supposedly, the trigeminal nerve sends sensory impulses to the satiation center every time the individual chews and swallows. After a number of stimulations, the satiation center apparently switches on and thereby decreases hunger. Although the

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swallow counter gives us some insight as to how appetite is decreased without elevating the blood glucose level, it doesn’t give us the entire answer into this complex physiological system. As you might expect, your stomach plays a big part in your desire to eat. What you may not know is that your stomach is a pretty smart organ.

As mentioned, when food enters the tummy, it is churned around and squeezed into a ball by the muscles of the stomach. If you eat at the same time everyday, your feeding center and other parts of your brain will learn to anticipate when food is coming. To prepare for the anticipated food, the brain sends messages to the stomach about an hour before feeding time so the stomach can get its muscles ready to perform. In response, the muscles of your stomach begin to churn, thereby signaling that you are getting hungry. The closer it gets to your normal eating time, the more your stomach growls and consequently, the hungrier you feel. If you don’t eat, the stomach will continue to contract as if food was actually present.

This churning and squeezing of the stomach muscle will eventually lead to what is commonly called hunger pangs.

Interestingly, if you can get through your normal eating time without taking in any food, your hunger pangs will subside just as if you’ve eaten a full meal. However, hunger pangs will again show up.

This is a learned phenomenon. That’s right. Your brain and stomach actually learn to function on cue. In laymen’s terms, you’ve actually taught your stomach to become hungry during certain times of the day. On the brighter side, any behavior that is learned can be unlearned and replaced with new learning. In this particular case, relearning is a snap. All you have to do is stagger your meal times. One day eat on the hour, the next day eat fifteen minutes before the hour, the following day eat fifteen minutes after the hour and so on. Once you control the hunger signals from your stomach, you should find it a little easier when you diet.

There is one more point here that we have to make. A lot of people think that the stomach stretches and shrinks. Actually, some of those brilliant professors who have a lot of letters behind their names believe this. Well, don’t let that fool you, because degrees and titles mean absolutely nothing in America. Some of the dumbest people I have ever met have a Ph.D. behind their name and some of the smartest people I ever met don’t even know what a Ph.D. is.

Believe me, anyone can get a Ph.D. Heck, I got one. That is just some free advice.

Anyhow, those guys who believe the stomach stretches are not even close. The stomach is made of smooth muscles. Consequently, it cannot stretch or shrink. However, the stomach does have a series of receptors throughout its lining that are sensitive to food volume. Again, it’s like having a little man down there that checks the volume of food coming into the stomach. When the volume reaches a certain level, the little man in the stomach calls up to his buddy in the hypothalamus and tells him to flip on the satiation button and flip off the feeding button. In brief, the volume of food in your stomach also plays a major part in controlling hunger.

Here is the thing though, the receptors and or the little man can be taught how much food is necessary to satiate hunger.

If you eat large meals, the little man (receptors) in your stomach will learn that a large volume of food is necessary to satiate hunger. If you eat small meals, the little man will eventually come to the conclusion that less food is necessary to satiate hunger. In short, you can actually teach the little man how much food is necessary to satiate hunger.

On that account, all you have to do to control biological hunger is to eat small meals through out the day in order to keep a constant glucose concentration level. Chew your food thoroughly and swallow a lot to activate your trigeminal nerve. Eat small portions of food in order to teach your stomach that not much food is required for satiation and stagger your meal times so that your stomach does learn when food is coming. If you do all those things, you will be able to control your biological hunger. The problem is that most Americans don’t eat because they are hungry. They eat because Oprah is on the tube, it’s eight o’clock, twelve o’clock, five o’clock, they are mad, happy, sad, relaxed, worried, anxious and a million other reasons.

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Scientific Hocus Pocus __________________________________________________________________

Using the aforementioned physiological facts, scientists have developed various diet pills and appetite suppressers in an attempt to help people lose weight. Some of the drugs on the market such as amphetamines and ephedrine influence the firing rates of your feeding and satiation centers in the hypothalamus. In a nutshell, they have your homunculus break dancing on your satiation center, thereby decreasing your desire for food. Other dietary aids are aimed at fooling your homunculus. For instance, Ayds, not to be confused with the blood disease, is a diet candy, which attempts to decrease hunger by elevating the blood sugar level of the body. The diet consists ∞ WELLNESS FOR LIFE ∞ of eating an Ayds thirty __________________________________________________________________ minutes prior to mealtime. The Ayds, which is almost pure Are Weight Tables Valid for Assessing Obesity? sugar, almost immediately elevates the blood sugar level, The numbers in these tables are really no more than average weights for individuals of a particular height, sex, and age. These averages do no thereby tricking your necessarily indicate “ideal” body weight and they are only very rough estimates homunculus into turning on of the amount of fat possessed by an individual. The most important your satiation center and measurements of obesity involve body composition. For example, a person who turning off your feeding has above average weight could be either fat or not fat, depending on the center. Other drugs are aimed proportion of fat versus other tissue such as muscle. at fooling your stomach. The Some fitness programs (strength training for example) may reduce fat common theme of these but not weight because of increased muscle mass. Many football players, chemicals is that they have an weightlifters, and bodybuilders are overweight in the sense of being above their extremely low caloric value. average height-weight table value, but many such individuals are definitely not fat. That is, their excess weight is mainly due to a large amount of muscle mass.

When they reach the stomach, they swell up considerably and give you a “full feeling,” thus sending a message to your homunculus and the satiation center. Unfortunately, research has revealed that these drugs are not very effective. It’s true that some of these drugs have been used successfully for short term weight loss, but there is no research that indicates that they are beneficial in long term weight reduction.

The question still remains as to why these drugs are not successful as diet aids. After all, it’s been scientifically validated that many of these substances do indeed satiate biological hunger. Why is it then, that people who use these drugs and dietary aids still cannot lose weight? The most plausible explanation is that most overweight people eat whether they are hungry or not. In a word, they don’t listen to or don’t detect what their bodies are trying to tell them. They eat out of habit rather than out of hunger.

Actually, some weight reduction therapists believe that obese people do not know when they are physiologically hungry. According to these researchers, overweight people were not taught to discriminate between hunger and various psychological states of arousal such as fear, depression, anger and anxiety.

They identify almost all psychological states of arousal as hunger. Therefore, they eat when they experience these states. Consequently, drugs or dietary aids that are only geared towards curbing biological hunger are most likely doomed to failure.

In order to help an obese individual lose weight, we contend that you have to teach him to be aware of both his internal and external environment. To be brief, you have to look at hunger as both a biological and psycho-sociological experience. By doing exactly this, we have been extremely success in helping people control their weight. So let’s do that.